Grew out of anime?

[zvein]

I’m in my mid 20s, and i don’t know if this is still true to this day since i stopped watching anime when i was 20. I used to like animes when i was teen and young adult, but even then i was extremely picky about the series, of which characterizations are of utmost important for me, regardless of the genre. You see, maybe because i’m asian but really i don’t like how anime seems to be very homogenous in terms of characterization, usually very sexualized, and the very few animes that i like usually came from noitamina, and western-like setting because they tend to explore characterization more like cowboy bebop, something that somehow not popular but it should be like MUSHISHI, eve no jikan, others like fma brotherhood, anything studio 4c, ghibli, anything mamoru hosoda, mononoke, or something very unusual but very well written like uchouten kazoku, something mainstream but very good like haikyuu, oofuri.

I like light hearted/romance/straight forward sports anime too but only when the characters are well written, and for a while(years now) i don’t think anime is for me anymore. Is it just me, or the anime industry doesn’t keep up with the trends of ‘it’s time to be better than stereotyping/sexism’ anymore? I honestly don’t know now, but the last time i watched anime, around 2015, it was still the case. How about you? Do you still like anime?

[Freemints30]

Yes, its just you getting older and having less time.

Same can be said with comics, video games and movies, every other medium, you just get older and thus less time to explore

The less free time you the more picker you become. In my opinion most old anime is samey trite (screw it my little brother wouldn't watch anything older that 2000 cus it looked too ugly with few exceptions), same with every medium. It only now you see it. I like my trashy stuff, but I have less time for mediocrity unlike back them.

Before in high school I read every mediocre horror manga no matter how long or bad I thought it was. I would read 100+ chapters to the end, but right now I'm too picky cus I have both a job and university. Gotta use my time wisely

[domisotto]

I never watched anime because it was not there when/where I was growing up, but since my kid is really into it, sometimes I watch it with her.

So, for me as an adult, the only one that truly captivated me was Yuri on Ice.

I also watched Full Metal, Jojo and Black Butler with some interest, but it kindda went on too long and I grew bored. The other stuff I tried with her, but dropped out eventually was Death Note (the second murderer girlfriend storyline was too much and too fake) and Naruto, volleyball stuff, and similar just doesn’t have any appeal to me, because it feels far too children-oriented to my taste and I have flashbacks to having to watch Disney/Pixar as a diligent parent.

I certainly can find videogames that suit my tastes, mostly BioWare stuff, Assassin Creed and, lately, Spiders Games smaller stuff.

[zvein]

I mean nowadays mediums seem to me are more careful with sensitive topics and the last time i watched anime, the newer ones, they still didn’t feel like that, is what i mean. Not the overall production quality. I agree that i have less time though, and that may contribute to having no patience for bad series.

[Freemints30]

Really? I personally don't see that. I still see the majority just making the thing that makes the most money.
It's only the minority that actually does that in a medium period. ( and does it well mind you).

Really if you need some modern anime and manga reccs. I can give you, but I need more than a vague, sensitivity, cus that's very subjective. But really just want my free time back...

[Kaydreamer]

I'm with you in that my favourites these days are Cowboy Bebop, FMA Brotherhood and Ghibli movies. I found I got tired of the 'typical' anime archetypes the older I got, and I just don't have time to watch mediocre stuff anymore.

There are still some gems out there, if you go looking. But they're few and far between. Western shows like She-re generally have far better writing these days.

[zvein]

Yeah, i can see that mediums now(mostly western mediums) are more careful albeit still very slow and represent more type of characters, and treat the minorities better, albeit still very slow. At least there’s a push from viewers and effort on their part. But anime still seem stuck to me back when i watched them except few gems here and then. My type of shows are like the ones i mentioned above so feel free to recommend some for me

[jcmraz]

I outgrew anime in my early 20s too. I had seen so many that I felt like they were becoming cookie cutter and boring. A lot of mediocre anime are just rehashing the same characters and plots in different sequences or with different outfits. A few years ago I got back into them. Not nearly to the extent I had in my late teens. Just enough to enjoy a show or two at a time on the weekly run.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I mean nowadays mediums seem to me are more careful with sensitive topics and the last time i watched anime, the newer ones, they still didn’t feel like that, is what i mean.

...Damn, I kinda feel that.
It does seem like anime is still a bit stuck in the early 00's mindset where things like sexual harassment and pedophilia are just 'jokes', even though pretty much everyone else is at least trying to move on and mature...it's frustrating to say the least. It's almost like they're single-handedly trying to keep the mindset alive...

I agree that i have less time though, and that may contribute to having no patience for bad series.

I've never had patience for bad series. ^^ There are several animes that I quit watching when I was but twelve, and never went back to again. Life is too short to waste on trashy shows. =/

That being said, I have a long list of anime that I consider high-quality, or at least not complete fan-service fests, if you're interested. And every once in a while, even though I don't watch nearly as much anime as I used to, I still keep finding good shows (yes, even new ones). For that reason, I don't consider myself having 'grown out' of anime.

I think what's most important in the search for quality is to not feel limited by the biggest anime out there. None of my favorite shows have ever been on a Most Popular list (or if they were, it was long before I discovered them) and I've never cared. At the end of the day, that's not what's important.

[zvein]

I’ve heard of she-re, and it’s already on my watch list

[zvein]

...Damn, I kinda feel that. It does seem like anime is still a bit stuck in the early 00's mindset where things like sexual harassment and pedophilia are just 'jokes', even though pretty much everyone else is at least trying to move on and mature...it's frustrating to say the least. It's almost like they're single-handedly trying to keep the mindset alive...

This. This is what i mean. Usually medium grows along with the viewers. But anime doesn’t....

That being said, I have a long list of anime that I consider high-quality, or at least not complete fan-service fests, if you're interested. And every once in a while, even though I don't watch nearly as much anime as I used to, I still keep finding good shows (yes, even new ones). For that reason, I don't consider myself having 'grown out' of anime.

Feel free to recommend me

When you see my favorite above they tend to be non mainstream also. But it feels difficult to continue to watch anime when the general sense of the medium still stuck orz

[ar-ninetysix]

Uhh I'm in my mid-20's, I'm still watching it. Probably way too much at once tbh but that's the result of low standards and a lot of free time lol I think I started watching current shows around 2017. As much as I enjoy it for what it is nowadays, I can also understand why you wouldn't wanna keep up with it anymore.

Quite frankly, a lot of it is aimed at teens. They're not looking for the most character-driven shows. When one does happen to come out, that's usually thanks to the writer doing more than the bare minimum. The original material for these anime adaptations in manga, light novels, and web novels already exist in a competitive world so everything's gotta catch readers fast with stuff that works and has been proven to sell. Guess what works quickly and sells quickly? Familiar tropes and fanservice, whether that's cute or sexy. I'm not a fan of cheap low-effort appeal like this, but I tend to look past it for shows that I believe are worth my time.

I could try to recommend some shows from the past few years that might be suited to your tastes if you're down for that~

[Freemints30]

I agree to disagree on that since majority just seems to be like Disney (performative in one hand delivering a mediocre product whlist being able to bend to a knee and not doing much, Mulan remake...) or just bad...plain bad and dull

Damn, I guess Im going the cliche route,

promised neverland (manga's just ended and its so far a good thriller. A thiller of a time.)

If I'm going slice of life aggresko . (hate office life)

If I'm going Romance

I want to eat your pancreas (name is the few funny things about it)

Ace attorney (is good adaptation of the games)

Japan Sinks (what the hell but its intresting)

Beastares (best of the animal genre)

Natsume book of friends (wholesoem asf)

Bloom into you ( a good romance heard it from a friend)

Ancient Magus bride ( a western style monster, fairies and alot of strangeness)

Cells at work (if you want to be educated in biology for some reason)

Steins Gate (good adaptaion of the VN)

Kaguya-sama Love is war (Im not a fan of romance in genearal but I found this one very funny first season)

Yeah good luck

[frgmnt]

I guess I'm a complete outlier, I began watching anime in mid-teens and I'm no less into it in my mid-twenties lmaoooo

I mean, my approach towards anime as a medium has changed a bit - back then, I just wanted escapism and entertainment, today I approach it from a more analytical/critical perspective. But it's important to note by "critical" I don't mean "find things to hate about it". It's more like... trying to examine why it works, what makes it affect me the way it does. But sometimes I just want to chill and watch something that doesn't require much thinking, and that's fine too.

There are some genres I don't like that much anymore despite watching them a lot when I was young, and there were years when I watched barely, if any anime. But right now, I can't see myself growing out of anime anytime soon. As long as there are older interesting shows I haven't watched (and there are still entire decades I haven't explored! like, so far I only watched a handful of pre-2000 anime, and this needs to change), and they keep making new ones, I'll probably keep watching anime.

[Caro]

Yeah as I’ve gotten older I’ve just completely lost the interest and patience I had for it. I still read manga a lot though but to the same degree that I read comics in general because the medium is my livelihood so I try to keep the flow of input going into my brain. I like that I can read a ton at once or just a little at a time on my downtime.

But anime (and honestly TV in general) I don’t have a lotta time to engage with. Most shows i “watch” I can only have on and listen to passively while I work and anime (and animation in general) doesn’t lend itself well to that type of limited engagement.

[zvein]

I think it’s also due to my internalized struggle that i judge asian medium more harshly since they tend to mirror how everyday asian people act also and i want them to be better or atleast try.
Yes please feel free to recommend to me

[allenT]

NormalIy I watch anime to relax and not to be in critic mode. Good? Bad? I don't care, as long it's enjoyable to me. (if it's not my type i just stop watching it)

I'm not a fomo type of person, so I did "miss" out a lot of good popular series... not because they're bad... No i don't want to be mentally invested on too much series, can be exhausting (and also time). So i be selective and limit myself to 3~5 series per season (normally) and that's okay.

I now watch 3 isekai series, 2 epic action thrillers, 3 science series & 1 furry anime. (I just can't help liking this season) In general, I still love animes.

[zvein]

I don’t count disney since they are virtue-signal champion. But it’s disney, and overall quality may not be my that good but atleast they try, even though it’s bad.
Hey i’ve already watched steins gate, natsume thank’s for the recommendation i’ll check them out

[summer_coefficient]

Kinda.
There's still a ton of anime I love and think and talk about daily but anime specifically (I still read manga) is something that just doesn't hit like it used to. After I turned 19, I kinda tuned out mostly.
Now I'm 21 and it's not all that different.

THAT'S WHAT I WOULD BE SAYING IF I HADN'T STARTED WATCHING JUJUTSU KAISEN

I am actually blown away by this show, because it's made me feel like I'm 14 again, waiting every week for the new episode to drop.
I still don't watch much anime save for JJK and AOT, but this feeling is nice.

[HGohwell]

I've not grown out of anime but I've definitely got less time for watching shows just because hype or because everyone else is. I'm a lot more, tried it, didn't like it, dropped it and not really giving things the benefit of the doubt for very long. I've only got so much time and I don't want to watch the same plot again and again unless it's a really good take on it. It's also not that surprising people grow out of anime since the vast majority of anime every season is aimed at teenage boys. You gotta dig for those aimed at adults but not porn animes, it's frustrating.

That said, this season (so far because we all know how quickly a show can take a dive down hill ) has been fantastic for some really great anime with some interesting concepts. Wonder Egg Priority is a trippy horror psychological thing dealing with mental health and bullying among other things. Otherworld Picnic is urban/internet legends based. And SK∞ is a fantastically done pretty straight forward sports anime for skateboarding.